College Football Power Rankings: Notre Dame climbs, USC falls after Week 0
Week 0 didn’t provide much high-profile action, but two of our top 15 teams took the field.
The USC Trojans hosted San Jose State in a sparsely-filled Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on Navy in Dublin.
Though Week 0 may not be the strongest indicator of how a season is going to go for a team, it reinforced some of our preexisting thoughts on these two prominent programs.
Sam Hartman was a fantastic addition by the Irish. USC’s defense is still a problem.
Though the rest of our top 25 didn’t give us anything to work with, we’re going to update our preseason power rankings based on what we saw out of USC and Notre Dame.
Georgia Bulldogs
Preseason Rank: 1
Week 1: vs. UT-Martin
The Bulldogs head into the season as the consensus No. 1 team in the nation. They will not face much of a challenge with UT-Martin heading to Athens for Week 1. It’s the beginning of the Carson Beck era at Georgia. Can he help extend the Dawgs winning streak?
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Michigan Wolverines
Preseason Rank: 2
Week 1: vs. East Carolina
Sure, they lost to TCU last year, but if there’s a team that could potentially have the dudes in the trenches to compete with Georgia and Alabama, it’s the Michigan Wolverines.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Preseason Rank: 3
Week 1: vs. Middle Tennessee
Though they failed to make it to the playoff in 2022, we’re still bullish on the Alabama Crimson Tide. If they can figure out a stable quarterback situation, the Tide will roll again in 2023.
Clemson Tigers
Preseason Rank: 4
Week 1: at Duke
No tuneup game for the Clemson Tigers. They jump right into their ACC schedule with a trip to Raleigh to take on Duke.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Preseason Rank: 6
Week 1: at Indiana
The Ohio State Buckeyes are jumping into conference play as well and like Georgia and Alabama, are breaking in a new starting quarterback this fall. The wide receiver corps is the best in the nation and will keep the Buckeyes offense humming.
Florida State Seminoles
Preseason Rank: 7
Week 1: vs. LSU (Orlando)
While Ohio State and Clemson play lower-tier conference opponents, the Florida State Seminoles and LSU Tigers meet in a huge nonconference matchup on Sunday, Sept. 3. This game will have huge College Football Playoff ramifications.
LSU Tigers
Preseason Rank: 8
Week 1: vs. Florida State (Orlando)
If the LSU Tigers have hopes of making the College Football Playoff in 2023, they can’t afford to lose to Florida State. They’ll play Alabama and then they’d play Georgia if they made the SEC title game.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Preseason Rank: 9
Week 1: vs. West Virginia
Penn State gets a solid nonconference matchup to open its 2023 season when it hosts the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Preseason Rank: 11
Last Week’s Result: Beat Navy 42-3
Week 1: vs. Tennessee State
It was only Navy, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looked great in their Week 1 win. Most notably, the performance of Sam Hartman has the Irish looking like a potential contender in 2023.
Utah Utes
Preseason Rank: 10
Week 1: vs. Florida
Cam Rising is listed as the starter on Utah’s first depth chart. The two-time defending Pac-12 champion Utes have a tough nonconference opener on Thursday when they host the Florida Gators.
USC Trojans
Preseason Rank: 5
Last Week’s Result: Beat San Jose State 56-28
Week 1: vs. Nevada
Though they doubled up San Jose State, this was a one-touchdown game at halftime. Alex Grinch’s defense allowed 7.3 yards per carry. The defensive woes persist for Lincoln Riley, and the challenges are only going to get more difficult.
Whether it was Week 1 of 2021 vs. Tulane, in the Trojans’ bowl game loss to the Green Wave or Week 0 against San Jose State, Grinch is showing that even Group of Five programs are giving him problems.
Caleb Williams is going to have to be a miracle worker in 2023.
You might think this is an unfair fall. Well, we’ll see. The Utah Utes beat USC twice last year, and Notre Dame looked like a team that might be able to hand the Trojans a loss. I’m putting USC in prove-it mode.
Tennessee Volunteers
Preseason Rank: 12
Week 1: vs. Virginia
Josh Heupel had the Volunteers rolling on offense last year. If they can find a way to get a few more stops, they’ll threaten the Bulldogs in the SEC East. Week 1 vs. Virginia shouldn’t provide much of a test, but will provide a great opportunity for Joe Milton to put up some big numbers. Could we see an appearance from former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava?
Oregon Ducks
Preseason Rank: 13
Week 1: vs. Portland State
Bo Nix was receiving a lot of Heisman buzz midway through the year for the Oregon Ducks. While a game against Portland State won’t create much of a challenge, it’ll be a good way to pad some stats in the Heisman race.
Washington Huskies
Preseason Rank: 14
Week 1: vs. Boise State
This is an intriguing matchup for the Washington Huskies. Boise State may not play in the Power Five, but it is a respected program that can put you to the test. Washington is a top-10 team in many polls. A win here would be a great start to what could be a playoff run.
Texas Longhorns
Preseason Rank: 15
Week 1: vs. Rice
The Texas Longhorns are once again the darling of the Big 12. They’re the most talented team in the conference and Quinn Ewers is heading into Year 2 as a starter. Should he improve this season, the Longhorns have a chance to make a run.
Kansas State Wildcats
Preseason Rank: 16
Week 1: vs.Southeast Missouri State
The Kansas State Wildcats aren’t going to be challenged much by SEMO. However, this week will provide a nice opportunity to get rolling in their first game without Deuce Vaughn in five years.
Wisconsin Badgers
Preseason Rank: 17
Week 1: vs. Buffalo
Tanner Mordecai is an interesting dark-horse candidate for Heisman discussions. Mordecai proved at SMU he could put up big numbers against AAC competition. What’s he going to do in the Big Ten?
Iowa Hawkyes
Preseason Rank: 18
Week 1: vs. Utah State
The defense will be good. But the question is how good the offense will be. Utah State is no slouch of a team, but the Hawkeyes should roll. Can Cade McNamara elevate Iowa’s offense into the 21st century?
Oregon State Beavers
Preseason Rank: 19
Week 1: vs. San Jose State
Oregon State’s defense will get a bit of a test when it travels to take on the same San Jose State team that ran for more than seven yards per carry against USC in Week 0.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Preseason Rank: 20
Week 1: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
This should be a fun matchup between two highly touted quarterbacks: North Carolina’s Drake May and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler. Expect some offensive fireworks.
Oklahoma Sooners
Preseason Rank: 21
Week 1: vs. Arkansas State
The Red Wolves shouldn’t challenge the Oklahoma Sooners much in Week 1, but there will be things we can glean. It’s a new year and a new team. Time to write a new story.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Preseason Rank: 22
Week 1: vs. North Carolina
The South Carolina Gamecocks have a chance to start 2023 like they finished 2022. Late in the season a year ago, the Gamecocks pulled off stunning upsets of Tennessee and Clemson to give Shane Beamer and Spencer Rattler the two most significant wins of their career to date.
A strong performance against North Carolina and Drake Maye could help get Rattler back into first-round draft pick consideration.
TCU Horned Frogs
Preseason Rank: 23
Week 1: vs. Colorado
TCU hosts Colorado in the second of their home-and-home series. Last year, Chandler Morris was injured and lost his job to Max Duggan in the process. This year, he’s back at the helm and hoping to recreate the magic Max had with the Frogs in 2022.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Preseason Rank: 24
Week 1: vs. Wyoming
Texas Tech opens the season on the road at Wyoming. It may not be a Power Five nonconference matchup, but Wyoming is one of the better Group of Five programs and could provide the Red Raiders a test in Week 1.
Ole Miss Rebels
Preseason Rank: 25
Week 1: vs. Mercer
This is one of those matchups, like Oklahoma’s vs. Arkansas State, where you’ll get to see all your favorite players shine. Jackson Dart will have a chance to do that, and so might former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders. The Ole Miss Rebels will get up big, giving Lane Kiffen an opportunity to go deep into his roster.
